CHAPTER TEN: INSECURE
1968 Words
Kevin was in a cab, heading back home. His meeting with the principal didn’t turn out the way he hoped. He’d ended up getting himself expelled instead. At the moment, he wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. How did a photograph that had been taken privately at the college he recently enrolled in end up in a random building—a killer’s den? There has to be some sort of explanation.
Just then, his phone rang.
“Hello, Kevin.”
“Alex?” his forehead creased. “It’s 9 pm. You never call this late. Is something wrong?”
“There are some things I need to tell you. It’s about—”
“And it can’t wait until tomorrow morning?” he interrupted.
“No, it can’t,” he answered. “Where are you right now?”
Kevin picked up a slight tone of distress in his voice. “I’m heading home. Why?”
“By home, you mean your friend’s place, Landry?”
“Yeah.” His brows narrowed. “How did you know I—”
“Kevin, listen.” He sounded dead serious. “Whatever you do, do not go back to that house.”
“Why?” He became perplexed. “Did something happen?”
After a brief silence, he finally spoke. “It’s your friend—”
His spirits sank. “Did something happen to Landry?”
“His body was found this evening at the park—same spot Leonard’s body was discovered. Had the same note attached.”
“No!” Blood drained from his face, eyes widening.
“I’m sorry, Kevin.”
###
It was a hot, sunny morning. A car drove in through the school gate and parked in front of the college building. The car engine died out and Natasha picked up her kits to get out. She looked rather unhappy and made it obvious.
“Natasha,” William called out to her, noticing her sadness. “Tell me, what’s wrong?” He looked at her with concern, brushing his hand softly over her hair.
“Nothing,” she blurted, avoiding his gaze. “I’m just glad you’re finally out of the hospital.”
He cupped his hands around her jaw, then his expression turned pensive. “I know when something is bothering you. Tell me, what it is?”
After a short silence, she exhaled. “Dad, I appreciate you looking out for me, but—” She gestured towards the armed men seated at the back. “—getting me a bodyguard, is that really necessary?”
“Someone is after you, and I don’t know who. Right now, this is the only way I can protect you when I’m not around you. I can’t risk losing you.”
“I thought you hired Derik to protect me.”
“Sweetie, I’m having little trust issues with Derik. I can’t trust him to protect you anymore.” He pressed his hands on her shoulder. “You’ll thank me someday for this.”
“I’ll see you later, Dad,” she mumbled dismissively and climbed out, unwilling to continue the conversation with her dad. She knew how this would end, anyway. And without a backward glance, she walked away, towards her classroom.
William looked in the rear mirror at the armed officers seated behind. “Bill, Steven, make sure you never leave her side.”
They both nodded and left the car. Then William drove away.
The armed men followed Natasha everywhere she went. She felt embarrassed by how her colleagues stopped to stare whenever she walked past them with two armed men heeling her.
College seemed to have changed a lot since the last time she was there. Natasha observed quite an unusual number of students present in the premises. There were many new faces.
Natasha flushed with embarrassment as she walked into her classroom. She felt all their gazes fixed on her. Her steps became irregular as she walked to her seat, keeping her head down. The armed men following her behind were getting the most attention from the students.
Just when she thought it couldn’t get any worse, Bill and Steven then stood guard at the doorway after she went in. She didn’t expect they’d stay back to watch her throughout the day. But they did. She realised that this was possibly going to be her worst day in college yet.
“Look who’s finally back!” she heard Dreda’s voice behind and turned.
“Dreda!” she exclaimed, clearly surprised to see her. “What are you doing here?”
“Hello?” Dreda made a gesture with her hands, raising an eyebrow. “Both our departments share lecture venues for AP Calculus.”
Natasha chuckled. “It’s good to see you too, Dreda.” She threw herself on her, tackling her in a bone-crushing hug.
Dreda gestured towards the men standing at the entrance. “Uhmm…what’s with the grumpy armed dudes you brought to school today?” She folded her arms together and stared. “Damn! Your dad has no chills. Just a single attempt to kidnap his precious daughter and he’s hired bodyguards.” She laughed mockingly.
“Oh no. Not you too,” she grimaced. “It’s bad enough that the whole class is staring, please don’t add to my misery.”
“Why did you agree to this?”
“I didn’t.” She shrugged her shoulders, her brows furrowed. “I tried to talk him out of it but—you know my dad—he kept insisting that I should go with them. Said it’s for my own good. Besides, it wasn’t just a single kidnap attempt.”
“It wasn’t?” She blinked in surprise.
“No, this T-Murek guy tried to kidnap me again. Yesterday. At the apartment. My dad was hurt pretty badly trying to protect me.”
“Oh my God,” Dreda gasped, covering her mouth. “Is he alright?”
“My dad’s fine,” she answered. “At least he’s back on his feet again.”
In the silence that followed, Dreda asked, “What happened back there at the De-Laurel? Heard some guy took you away. We were so worried. Thank goodness you are ok.”
“No, he didn’t take me. I went with him willingly,” Natasha corrected. “And besides, it wasn’t just some guy. It was Kevin.”
Dreda’s eyebrows rose.
She watched in silence as Natasha continued. “He took me to his friend’s place to stay for a while until things settle down a bit, before he took me home to my dad.”
###
Derik drove into the parking lot in front of a large building. It was the Threat Control Unit headquarters. Climbing down from his vehicle, he walked past the security men that stood guard at the entrance to the building.
There were several men and women dressed in matching uniforms inside the building. As Derik walked past them, he felt their gaze following him. Some officers who were operating computers behind the desks stopped to stare as he walked past.
He wondered why everyone was acting differently today—maybe he had something on his face. Or was it the way he dressed? He bent to examine himself and found no fault in what he wore.
Soon, he reached William’s office. Turning the door handle, he pushed the door open, revealing William sitting behind his desk, conversing with Lawrence, who sat opposite. Both men turned to stare blankly at him as he stood motionless in the doorway.
He found Lawrence to be a daunting and weirdly demoralizing presence. And at that moment, it finally dawned on him why everyone was acting weirdly; Lawrence had revealed the truth about him, and the news had now circulated to everyone.
“I’m really sorry for interrupting. Maybe I should come back when you two are done,” Derik said and quickly shuffled backward, closing the door.
“There is no need for that,” Lawrence answered almost immediately. “We are already done here.”
Derik stopped, then stepped into the office, counting his every pace. Lawrence nodded to his bodyguard standing behind him—a silent signal to arrest him. The bodyguard swiftly moved behind Derik and grabbed his arms, restraining him.
Derik knew not to struggle.
“You are under arrest,” came the disappointed voice. William stood up and walked to him. “I can’t believe I trusted you.” He forcefully stripped the badge off his shirt and collected his gun. “Who could have believed that my most trusted officer is one of those creatures?”
William turned to move away from him, his arms wrapped behind his back. “I’ve always suspected that there was a shifter on the force. Never could have imagined it would be you. I can’t believe I trusted you with my daughter’s safety.”
“It wasn’t my fault that I was born this way. Heck, I never even asked to be born,” Derik yawped. “I have killed no one. My only crime was being born this way, but you have all condemned me and decided that I don’t deserve to live. All I ask is that you give me a chance to prove I am not one of those killers out there.”
William, paralysed by indecision, stared wordlessly.
“Why are you here?” Lawrence cut in.
Derik turned to Lawrence, his eyes bored into him.
“You knew that I was already onto you,” Lawrence said, “yet you took the risk to come here. Must be very important.”
“The shifters in this city are the least of our problems for now,” he started off. “There is an even greater threat—a group of vicious killers, who call themselves Beocraft. They are responsible for all those deaths that have been reported this week. Last night, another body was found in City Park. He was said to have been visited at his home by this group of vicious killers. They murdered him at his residence and dumped his body in the park. They have to be stopped before any more bodies are found.”
He directed his gaze at William. “T-Murek, who’d recently made another attempt to kidnap your daughter, also belongs to this group. And rest assured, he will try to kidnap her again—this time we might not be so lucky as before. For some reason, T-Murek is after your daughter, and I’m investigating why he’s strongly interested in Natasha. He won’t stop until he gets what he wants.”
Lawrence signalled to his bodyguard to release him, and at once, he let go of Derik’s arms. “I’m not letting you walk because of what you’d just said or because you’re an officer in the taskforce. You haven’t killed anyone, but that doesn’t change the fact that you pose a threat to this city. You’re one of them, dammit! It would be unfair to let you walk while the rest burn. But I’m willing to risk my integrity by trusting you. Now if what you’ve said is true, then these killers need to be stopped, and we’ll need your help for that.”
“Earlier, I ran a deep search for T-Murek,” William, who’d dropped out of the conversation, chimed in. “His name and face cannot be found on any database or record. We couldn’t place a positive ID on him. It’s almost as if he doesn’t exist.” William pointed out. “How the hell do we stop someone like that?”
“I found where they usually meet, and tonight we should strike them with everything we’ve got,” Derik suggested.
- Writer
